Category: Industry
On Track
Feb 16, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka inaugurated a rail track on the south coast upgraded with Indian aid to enable train speeds of up to 100 kilometres an hour, reducing travel time, Wednesday, a statement said. The Galle-Matara track of 42 kilometres has been up-graded by India’s state-owned IRCON to world standards, the Indian […]
Maldives free British man after mid-air bomb scare
February 15, 2011 (AFP) – Maldives police have released a British man accused of sparking a bomb scare on a SriLankan Airlines flight, a spokesman said Tuesday, explaining he had been misunderstood by cabin crew. The airline faced attacks during Sri Lanka’s 37-year civil war that pitched Tamil Tiger rebels against government troops. Fighting ended […]
Briton arrested after Sri Lankan airline bomb hoax
February 14, 2011 (AFP) – Police in the Maldives arrested a British man Monday after he caused a bomb scare aboard a SriLankan airlines flight from London that was diverted to the atoll nation, an official said. The flight was heading for Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo but was forced to land in the Maldives where […]
Sri Lanka tourist arrivals up 46-pct in January
Feb 15, 2011 (LBO) – Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka in January 2011 rose 46.2 percent to 74,197 with Western Europe generating 32,627 and India being the single most important country with 13,786 visitors. Visitors from Western Europe who are important for the country’s beach resorts rose 53.7 percent from a year earlier maintaining the […]
Sri Lanka domestic aviation eyed by US aircraft maker
Feb 15, 2011 (LBO) – US aircraft Cessna is eyeing Sri Lanka’s fledgling domestic aviation industry after the end of a 30-year war has prompted liberalization of the sector and a tourism boom is increasing demand for international flights. “Because of the stability and peace in the country Sri Lanka now has a moment where […]
Sri Lanka seen as among fastest growing passenger markets
SINGAPORE, February 14, 2011 (AFP) – Eight-hundred million more people will travel by air by 2014, over a quarter of them from China, raising the need for more efficient traffic management and airports, IATA trade body said Monday. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) forecast an estimated 3. 3 billion air travellers in three years’ […]
Sri Lanka Aitken Spence Hotels net up on interest
Feb 14, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Aitken Spence Hotels, which also has operations in the Maldives, said net profit for the December quarter was up 30 percent to 272 million rupees, with revenues growing 5. 0 percent 2.0 billion from a year earlier. But operating profits fell 9.0 percent to 351 million during the […]
Bank Numbers
Feb 14, 2011 (LBO) – The December 2010 quarter net profit at Sri Lanka’s Sampath Bank almost doubled to 1.4 billion rupees from a year ago with basic earnings per share up 96 percent to 8.84 rupees, a stock exchange filing said. Interest income fell 9.8 percent to 4.7 billion rupees and interest expenses fell […]
Finance Quality
Feb 14, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s registered finance companies (RFCs) are gradually recovering from the weakened economic climate that prevailed in 2008 and 2009, a ratings report said. RAM Ratings (Lanka) said the sector has benefitted from falling interest rates which has increased margins due to deposit rates falling faster than rates on loans. […]
Mobility Monitor
Feb 14, 2011 (LBO) – Car imports into Sri Lanka shot up by 300 percent to 23,072 in 2010 after the government slashed import duty and also because of rising demand after the end of a war, a government statement said. It said the number of cars registered with the motor traffic department in 2009 […]
Sri Lanka smash Netherlands
February 12, 2011 (AFP) – Hosts Sri Lanka proved far too strong for minnows Netherlands, posting a crushing 156-run victory in a morale-boosting World Cup warm-up match on Saturday. Sri Lanka, runners-up at the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean, scored 351-5 off their allotted 50 overs even without prolific run-getters Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela […]
Sri Lanka urged by columnist not to win World Cup
February 12, 2011 (AFP) – While the media of every country usually backs its team, a Sri Lankan newspaper columnist has urged the national squad not to win the World Cup — for the greater good of the nation. “Call me a traitor, a quisling… anything. I don’t want Sri Lanka to be the champions […]